The Sunday Oregonian., March 25, 1900, PART TWO, Page 21, Image 21

THE SUNDAY OREGGNIAN, PORTLAND, MAECH 25, 1900.
21
WJthBookS
Voice of the Books.
Books and books "by the -million!
"What Is the lesson they glva?
What do they say
In their multiplied way
Critics a-slashln 'em. day by day
Beautiful bindings of gold and of gray?
Thl& with bold, basinets abandon, they Bay:
"Authors have got to live!"
Atlanta Constitution.
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
Biography of America's Minister to
England Daring: the Civil War
Late Publications.
Twenty-eight years htfve elapsed since
Charles Francis Adams returned from Eu
rope after the Geneva arbitration of 1S72,
in which he rendered his last notable
public service. No use whatever has hith
erto been made of his papers, though
they cover the period of his service as
United States Minister to Great Britain
during the Civil War. Though neither In
bulk nor In Interest equal to the accumu
lations left by John Adams or by John
Quincy Adams, these have none the less
a distinct value, shedding, as they do.
much contemporaneous light on a period
which must be accounted the most mo
mentous in American history. Mr. Adams
-was not an active letter-writer, nor a sys
tematic collector of material; but he 'pre
served all his correspondence, together
with copies of hie letters, and for over
BO years, from the time he entered Har
vard, he kept a diary, in which there Is
scarcely a break.
Much of this Valuable material has been
put to use by Charles Francis Adams, his
son. in "Charles Francis Adams." which
has just been published in the American
Statesmen Series. ' The sketch, chiefly bio
graphical, is in part a preliminary study,
and in part the condensed abstract of a
larger and more Important detailed work
already far advanced in preparation. The
later work will be made up In a much
greater degree of extracts from Mr. Ad
ams' diary, letters, and papers, with only
such extraneous matter as may bo deemed
necessary to connect the narrative, and
to throw light upon It by means of de
velopments since made. ,
Mr. Adams arrived at London May 13,
1S51. Since his nomination, exactly eight
weeks before, events had moved hardly
less rapidly in Europe than at home;
Though at homo they witnessed the fall
of Sumter and the consequent uprising
of the North. So far as the United
States were concerned meaning by the
term United States that portion of tho
TTI wV.tl- -!. .1 !.. !. TTi. .-
" iA. """""'--" ""-
pean conditions at that time, very bad in
appearance In reality were still worse.
Well calculated to exeUo alarm at the I
moment, looking: back on them now as
they have Elnce been disclosed, the won-
der is over the subsequent escape. In- 1
deed. It Is not going too far to assert
uiai, oeiwcen may iuiu ;uvemuer, ioui,
the chances in Europea were as ten to one
in favor of the Confederacy and against
the Union. The. apparent Indifference at
the North to the fate of the Union, and
the utterances of influential men In favor
of letting the "erring sisters depart in
peace" had much t6 do with molding pub
lic opinion in England. General disinte
gration seemed imminent; nor was It clear
that It would encounter any very formid
able, cohesive resistance. Not without
ground, therefore, did the London Time3
declare that to those "who look at things
from a distance, it appears as if not only
states were to be separated from states,
hut even as if states themselves were to
be broken up, the counties assuming to
themselves the same rights of sovereign
power as have been arrogated bj the
larger divisions of the country." In
France, the Emperor Napoleon was al
ready maturing his Mexican schemes, and
in connection with them, covertly making
overtures looking to the early and com
plete disruption of the United States. In
London, Seward, the American Secretary
of State, was regarded with grave sus
picion. Not only was he believed in offi
cial circles to be unreliable and to the
last degree tricky, but he was assumed to
be actuated by a thoroughly unscrupu
lous disregard not only of treaty obliga
tions, but so far as foreign nations, and
especially Great Britain, were concerned,
of International morals. Besides, the
Britishers remembered, a hostile remark
which Seward made at a dinner given to
the Prince of Wales at Albany, N. Y., in
1S60. The story was that Seward inti
mated to the Duke of Newcastle, who
was at the head of the Prince's suite,
that he (Seward) expected "soon to hold
a very high office here in my own couri
try; it will then," he was alleged to have
added, "become my duty to insult Eng
land, and L mean to do so." During the
years that followed the story made its
appearance with great regularity when
aver the relations between the United
States and Great Britain were, in appear
ance or reality, in any way strained. It
caused Mr. Adams endless annoyance and
trouble.
That some such idea respecting Great
Britain as that commonly Imputed to him
was really lurking in Seward's mind, is
shown by the memorandum entitled
"Some Thoughts for the President's Con
sideration' which bore date of April L
1S51, and was first made public by Lin
coln's biographers, Nlcolay and Hay,
nearly SO years later. In that paper Sec
retary Seward proposed to the Presi
dent to take immediate measures calcu
lated to "change the question before the
(American) public from one upon slavery,
or about slavery, for a question upon
-union or disunion"; and to jthat end he
recommended that explanations, in re
gard to their proceedings in the West In
dia Islands and in Mexico be demanded
"from. Spain and France categorically, at
once, I would then seek explanations
from Great Britain and Russia, and send
agents Into Canada, Mexico and Central
America, to rouse a vigorous continental
spirit of Independence on this continent
against European Intervention. And if
satisfactory explanations are not re
ceived from Spain and France, would
convene Congress and declare war against
them."
"Of course." says the biographer, "if
the policy here recommended had been
followed, satisfactory explanations from
the powers addressed would, under the
circumstances, have been neither expected
nor desired. War was Intended." We
think the biographer Is In error when he
says that Lincoln quietly put the
"thoughts" aside. He replied to t"he mem
orandum the day it was written and In a
manner that convinced Seward that there
( was no need for the President to sur
render the functions of his ofllce to a
member of his Cabinet. Moreover, the
memorandum had forewarned Lincoln, as
was made apparent by the President's
treatment of Seward'6 celebrated dispatch
to Minister Adams, dated May 21, 1SSL
"It Is not difficult," says the biographer.
imagine what would have been the
:tcla dispatch couched in these terms
ivered In June, 1SG1, to a British Gov-
Mixm.
eminent, of which Lord Palmerston was
the head, with England acting in full un
derstanding with France. The Confed
eracy would have heen recognised, and
the blockade of Its coast, at that time
hardly more than nominal, would have
been disallowed almost before the Amer
ican minister had rattled out of Down
ing street. Thus, as originally drawn up,
this extraordinary paper of May 21 was
nothing more or less than a definite com
mitment of the United States to the pol
icy outlined by Seward in his 'Thoughts "
Even President Lincoln's severe revision
of the dispatch "of May 21 did not cause
Seward to abandon his idea of a foreign
war as a panacea for civil war, for, on
July 4. 1SC1, we find him saying to tho
American correspondent of the London
Times: "We have less to fear from a,
foreign war than any country In the
world. If any European power provokes
a war, we shall not shrink from It. A
contest between Great Britain and tho
United States would wrap the world in
fire, and at the endlt would not be tho
United States which would have to la
ment the result of the conflict."
All th-ough tho Summer of 1SC2 the
ministers of Napoleon III pressed the Brit
ish Government towards recognition, and
the utterances of English public men of
note became day by day more outspoken
and significant. Of these, some were of
little moment; others meant more. Glad
stone, at Newcastle on October 7, was
betrayed into utterances which he was
afterwards at, much trouble to explain.
"There is no doubt,' he said, amid loud
cheers from his audience, "that Jefferson
Davis and, other leaders of the South
have made an army; they are making, it
appears, a navy; and they have made
what is more than either they have made
a nation." Gladstone was then Chan
cellor of the Exchequer. Sir George
Cornewall Lewis, the Secretary of State
for "War, replying to Gladstone at Here
ford a week later, declared that "it could
not be said that the Southern states cf
the Union had de facto established their
independence," or were In a position to be
entitled to recognition on any accepted
principles of public law.
Thus it was that the barrier that de
feated recognition of the Confederacy was
not the great powers of Europe, but a
section of the English cabinet. Such was
the fact; and the danger was extreme.
Lord Palmerston had at last made up his
mind that the time for recognition had
come. Accordingly, on September 14, he
wrote Earl Russell, suggesting a joint
offer by Great Britain and France of
good offices. This Earl Russell was now
quick to approve. "I agree with you,"
he wrote in reply to Palmerston, "tho
time is come for offering mediation to the
United States Government, with a view
to the recognition of the independence
of the Confederates. I agree further.
-.. , ... w . w.. .uwu.v., .. . 0" w
selves to recognize the southern states aa
an independent state."
The mkJdIe of 0ctober was. tilQ tlme sUg.
gested or actjon. Naturally, the two
heads of the ministry, Palmerston and
Russell, took it for granted that their
concurrence would control Its action. It
pr0Ved otherwise: hence the great sig-
nlflcance of Sir George Lewis' answer to
Gladstone. The difference was pro
nounced. Russell, however, persevered.
A confidential memorandum, outlining the
proposed policy, went out, and a carl
was Issued for a cabinet meeting on Oc
tober 23 for its consideration. The author
ity of the two chieftains to the contrary
notwithstanding, the division of opinion
foreshadowed by the remarks of Sir
Oeorge Lewis proved so serious that the
meeting was not held. The Duke of Ar
gyll and Milner Gibson , were the two
most pronounced "Americans" in the cab
inet, and they received a measured sup
port from Sir George Lewis and C. P.
Villlers.
Following the situation closely, Mr.
Adams had in July anticipated some move
in the way of mediation on the part of
England and France. In a dispatch to
Secretary Seward, he asked for explicit
Instructions as to the course he should
pursue, If approached by Earl Russell
with a tender of good offices. Seward's
reply left no doubt as to tho position of
the Washington Government. Minister
Adams was Instructed that If the British
Government, singly or In combination with
any other Government, approached him,
directly or indirectly, "on the subject of
our Internal affairs, whether it seem to
imply a purpose to dictate or to mediate
; or to advise or even to -solicit or persuade.
you will answer that you are forbidden
to debate, to hear or in any way receive,
entertain or transmit any communication
of the kind." If the British Government
acknowledged the insurgents. Minister
Adams was to suspend the exercise of
his functions, and if the British Govern
ment made any act or declaration of war
the minister was to demand his passport.
"This duty," ran Secretary Seward's in
structions, "has brought us to meet and
confront the danger of a war with Great
Britain and other states allied with the
Insurgents who are In arms for the over
throw of the American Union. You will
perceive that wo have approached the
contemplation of that crisis with the cau
tion which great reluctance has inspired.
But I trust that you will also have per
ceived that the crisis has not appalled
us."
Minister Adams, on the afternoon of Oc
tober 23, the date Hxed for the canceled
cabinet meeting, had an official Interview
with the Foreign Secretary. Referring to
the departure of Lord Lyons from London
for Washington, he having in reality been
detained by the Government until its
American policy had been decided upon,
"I expressed." Mr. Adams wrote, "the
hope that he might be going out for a
long time. I had, Indeed, been made ol
late quite fearful that it would be other
wise. If I had entirely trusted to the
construction given by the public by a
late speech (Gladstone's), I should have
begun to think of packing my carpet-bag
and trunks. His Lordship at once em
braced the allusion, and, -sihlle endeavor?
ing to excuse Mr. Gladstonp, in fact ad
mitted that his act had been regretted
by Lord Palmerston and the other cabi
net officers."
Unknowingly, and with the narrowest
possible margin of safety, the crisis had
"been passed. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,
Boston and New York.)
MISS MARY JOHXSTOX.
Young- Virginia "Writer "Whose Xov
cls Are Popular. "
"To Have and to Hold" is certainly a
brilliant production, astonishing, indeed,
when it is remembered that the author is
scarcely 29 years old. Her first book was
written amid the distractions of household
duties, without the knowledge even of a
friend or relative, until it had been ac
cepted by her publishers. It appeared un
heralded and without artificial help to
popularity, but it proved to be an imme
diate success. This second 6tory was
written, the Book-Buyer believes, under
practically the same circumstances.
The somewhat bewildering and unpre
cedented popular success of'many histori
cal stories has raised many interesting
Critical questions about this kind of fic
tion; but whatever the judgment some
years hence may be of most of them, the
mgn literary quality and the true aim of
Mlss Johnston's work seem sure to give
this book more than a passing lease of life.
Certainly it raises the highest hopes of the
future of so young a writer.
Miss Johnston Is a Virginian by birth
and ancestry, though of late years she has
lived in Alabama, where her father has
been for years prominently Identified with
the construction and conduct of railroad
and Industrial enterprises. The American
head of the family settled in the Old Do
minion in 1727. and was the donor of the
lands on which now stands the college of
Hampden-Sldney. Miss Johnston's father
is a lawyer by profession, and served during-
the Civil War as a MaJOr of artillery
in the Confederate army. Her mother was
of an old Scotch-Irish family, and through
her the present romancer is a lineal de
scendent of one of the 13 apprentices who
closed the gates of Londonderry in tho
siege of 16SS. Miss Johnston wa3 born at
Buchanan, Botetourt County, Virginia, a
dignified, leisurely old town with a some--what
long and plcturesquo history,
"TO HAVE AXD TO HOLD."
Miss Mary Johnston's Xovcl of Early
Days in Virslnin.
Tho uncommon success of "Prisoners ol
Hope," both with the critics and with the
public, paved the way for tho hearty wel
come which has been accorded to Miss
Mary Johnston's new historical novel, "To
Have and to Hold." Two weeks after pub
lication the novel reached 100,000 copies,
and it is steadily gaining in popular favor.
The Buffalo Public Library bought 75
copies, and had them ready for delivery
AUTHOR OF "TO HAVE AND TO HOLD."-
MISS MARY
the day the book was issued. For these 1 Latin swell. Imaginably from Trieste, whi
75 copies the advance applications num- . sat long over his small csffee and cigar
bered 240. "To Have and to Hold" has as I ette, and grandly mused upon the pages
firm a grasp on the reading public as
"Richard Carvel," "Janice Meredith,"
"David Harum" or "When Knighthood
Was in Flower."
"To Have and to Hold" has not only
tho high qualities which assured readers
of "Prisoners of Hope" that a genuine
novelist had come, but It has a firmer
grasp and even more masterfulcoramand I
of the situation than Miss Johnston's first
story had. "To Have and to Hold" also
is a story of the early years of colonial
Virginia, opening in 1621, with the arrival
from England of a shipload of young wo
men to be sold to the colonists for wives,
each being offered for 120 pounds of to
bncco. John Rolfe, who had married and
burled Pocahontas, appears on the scene,
but not as the hero. The story is told by
Captain Ralph Percy, and Is a graphic ac
count of a scries of highly dramatic events
and experiences, some caused by the colo
nists themselves, some by the London
Company, which controlled the colony,
others by the Indian?, who watched the
settlers jealously, and still others by the
unfriendly forces of Nature.
In Virginia, as ,in most new colonies,
women were greatly In the minority, and
the wise Sir Edwin" Sandys understood,
says the historian Fiske. "that without
homes and family ties a civilized com
munity must quickly retrograde into bar
barism." As homes with pleasant society
grew up in the colony, Mife began to be
made attractive, and the old squalor
everywhere gave way to thrift. Captain
Ralph Percy, a man of considerable im
portance In the -colony, decides, by a
throw of the dice, to seek a wife among
the women who came in 162L He defends
one girl from the attentions of a too ar
dent wooer, and offers to marry her.
When they had been married by Rev,
Jeremy Sparrow, '"Jeremy who rnado the
town merry at Blackfrlars," nnd at whom
"all the town laughed when It heard that
he had taken orders." Captain Percy dis
covered that his wife was a woman ol
quality. She confessed that she was a
ward of the king, who had taken the name
of one of her maids and fled to Jamestown
to escape marriage to Lord Carnal, the
King's favorite. Adventures begin with
the arrival In Jamestown of Lord Carnal,
who has come to carry back to England
the girl and the man who has dared to
marry the King's ward. In their efforts
to escape Lord Carnal, Percy and wifo
have many thrilling experiences, now
aboard a pirate ship and now prisoners
among the Indians. At length Lord Car
nal loses favor with the King, and the
order comes from London that the mar
riage of Captain Percy and the ward will
be recognized, and that they return to
London to be forgiven.
Miss Johnston has set before us a pano
rama of fighting, death, torture, starva
tion, white Intrigue and Indian conspiracy,
but what else was the early history of
Virginia? The. most finely drawn and con
sistent character in the book is the hero,
Percy, but Miss Johnston has done clever
work in the handling of that polished, un
scrupulous courtier. Lord Carnal. There
is much in the character of Percy that
suggests George Percy, who wrote of his
first experiences In Jamestown: "There
were never Englishmen left in a foreign
country in such misery ns we were In this
new discovered Virginia": who with John
Smith, and two others, rushed Into Ope
kankano's house, .seized him by the long
scalplock. dragged him before his aston
ished tribesmen, held anistol to his breasl
and thus forced the Indians to supply
corn to the hungry people of Jamestown;
and who commanded the colony through
the Starving Time.
Over all the wild stormy scenes, as well
In the leEs strenuous passages, through
out the unfolding of this drama. Miss
Johnston presides with steadiness of fate,
and yet the touch, however firm. Is alwavs
definite and fine. Both the story and the
manner of Its telling lend to the book a
remarkable interest. It is an admirable
picture of a thrilling, enchanting period
of American colonial history. (Houghton,
Mifflin & Co., Boston.)-
Their Silver "Wedding: .Tonrney.
All In gray and silver appear the two
volumes of "Their Silver Wedding Jour
ney," by W. D. Howelis, which fir.'t ran
as a serial in Harper's Magazine last year.
The story Itself presents the Marches,
with whom the public has 23 years'
or more acquaintance, as revisiting the
places in Europe where they received their
first impressions of "abroad," In their
younger married life. There is a good
deal of sentiment In the situation, though
Mr. Howelis has treated it with his usual
inflexible regard for wnat he believes to
be the truth. When the Marches reach
1 Carlsbad after a journey crowded with
little things that are exciting nnd Inter- F
estlng, from the Howelis standpoint, the
author gives ua the following bit cf por
traiture, which is throughout thoroughly
characteristic: "The midday dinner at
Pupp's was the time to see the i
Carlsbad world, and the Marches
had the habit of sitting long at
table to watch It. There was
ono family in whom they fancied a sort
of literary quality, as if they had come
out of some pleasant German story; but
they never knew anything about them
Tho father, by his drets, must have been
a Protestant clergyman. The mother hai
been- a beauty, and was still very hand
some; the daughter was good looking, and
of a good breeding, which was both glr'Ish
and ladylike. They commended them
selves by always taking the table d'hoto
dinner, as the Marches did, and eating
through from the soup and the rank
fresh-water fish to the sweat, upon the
same principle; the husband ate all the
compote and cave tho others his desert,
which was not good for him. A young
girl, for a different fascination, remained
as much a mystery. She was small and
of an extreme temerity, which becamo
more bewildering as she advanced through
her meal, especially at supper, which she
made of a long cucumber pickle, a Frank
fort sausage of twice the pickle's length
and a towering goblet of beer; in her .lap. 1
she held a shivering little hound; she wa?
in the decorous keeping of an elderly
maiden, and had every effect of being a
gracious frauleln.
"A curious contrast to her Teutonic vo
racity was the temperance Of a young
JOHXSTOX.
of an Italian newspaper. At another table
was a very noisy lady, short and fat, in
flowing draperies of white, who com
manded a sallow family of South Ameri
cans, and loudly harangued them In South
American Spanish. She flared out. a spot
of livid light on a picture which nowhtro
lacked strong effects, and In ner oacK-
ground lurked a myster'ous black face
and figure, ironically subservient to the
old marr, the mi'.d boy and the pr:-tty
young girl in the middio distance of the
family group. Amid the shows of a hard
ened wordllness there wcra touching
glimpses of domestlcltv and hcart; a y ung
bride fed her husband soup from her own
date with her spoon, unabashed by th
publicity; a mother and her two pretty
daughters hung about a handso-ne officer,
who must have been newly betrothed to
ono of the girls, and the whole faml'y
showed a helpless fondness for him, whlc!s
he did not despise, though he hld It In
check; the girls dressed tdike. and seemed
to have for their whole change of cos
tume a difference from time to time In
the color of their sleeves."
Unlike some couples of middle age. M-.
and Mrs. March view with interest the af
fairs about them, and take a kindly de
light In the love-making of the youths
and maidens with whom they are asso
ciated In taking an active part in tha
love that would net run smooth for
Asata Triscoe and Burnamy. and in the
Mrs. Adding and Kenby affairs. (Harper
& Bro., New York.)
Man hnd His Ancestor.
The ascent of man from the. kingdom
of the lower anlmnls, the eulminatihe
feature of the evolution hypothesis, has
hitherto remained, so far as its cvidenp:3
j aro concerned. In the hands of the sclen-
tlsts, no pouplar exposition of it having
been offered to the general nubile. In
fact, aside from Darwin's epoch-making
work on the subject. It has not been treat
ed at all, except ns a side-issue in the
works devoted to a different theipe. "Man
and His Ancestor" has been written by
Charles Morris, with the purpose of sup
plying this deficiency, it belngi while
scientific in treatment, popular in method,
and adapted to make this Interesting sub
ject clear to all readers, Darwin's "De
scent of Man" was published nearly 30
years ago. and, while exhaustive for that
period, necessarily lacks the additional
evidences which have since arisen, and
which add considerably to the strength of
the arsument of man's origin, through
the process of evolution- In the present
work all the old and Various new proofs
of man's descent from the anthropoid apea
are presented, while the author offers a
number of hypotheses original with him
self, and traces step by step the progress
of man from his ancestral form tn hi?
present state, the study of his physical
development being followed by a consider
ation of his moral and spiritual evolution.
(The Macmlllan Company, New York.j
The Anirlopholiinc.
Sydney Brooks In tho North American
Review.
He has bought flags and held meetings
and passed resolutions to his heart's and
lungs' content. He has cheered with In
telligent fervor the amiable Mr. Bourke
Cockrans description of Englishmen as
"a set of perjurers," "ruffians In finance
and ruffians In everything." and groaned
with approving horror when this some
accomplished publicist Informed him that
"in England a Catholic cannot hold of
fice," and that the Uitlanders in the
Transvaal numbered 35.000 and the Boers
about 1S0.OCO. There even seemed to ba
a Vice-Presidential "boom" within reach
of the still more amiable gentleman who
publicly prayed that the war might "send
up tho price of crepe in England." And
so, no doubt, there would have been In
years gone by. But today It Is one of
the Anglophoblac's many grievances that
tho genuine American no longer attends
his meetings. Dutch-Americans and
Irish-Americans and other hyphenated
Americans are there in plenty, but not
the real article. The talltwlster has done
his best since the war broke out, and
no doubt influenced some people, but the
really palmy age of Anglophobia seemr
to have passed. It has been made too pit
ifully apparent that nine-tenths of his
love for the Boers is made up of his
hatred of the English, and the other tenth
of Ignorance of South Africa. In spite
of his best exertions, the qountry Is not
greatly moved to sec him exploiting the
Boers, as. five years ago he was exploll
ing the Venezuelans, to damage the "com
mon enemy."
VIGOROUS IN HIS OLD AGE
GOLDIVCf SMITH'S POLITICAL HIS
TORY OF GREAT DIUTAIX.
A Work an the British State "Which
DcEcrves Mention "With Greeks
History of Hie English People.
'The friends who urged the. writer to
undertake this task know that It has been
performed by the hand of extreme old
age." With these words. Goldwln Smith
concludes the brief preface to his latest
and most important historical work, "The
United Kingdom: A Political History,"
which has been published in two volumes
by the Macmllldn Company, of New York.
It Is truo that some few historians have,
like Ranke, continued their labors until
Ions' past the allotted jears of a busy life,
but It would be difficult to mention among
them any writer who has at the age of 75
completed a book so remarkable for vigor
of thought and vivacity of style as this
political history of Great Britain.
Since Goldwln Smith during the first
four years of the existence df Cornell Uni
versity lectured In that Institution upon
English history, there l3 a certain fitness
In giving weight to an estimate of the
man and his work by H. Morse Stephens,
professor English and Modern European
History at Cornell, himself an English
man and a graduate of. Oxford, and In a
certain sense the successor of MrT Smith
at Cornell. Professor Stephens says the
vigor and- eloquence of Gojdwin Smith's L
.teaching left a deep mark upon the stu
dents of Cornell between 1SGS and 1S72. He
has left traditions which, have bepome
a part of the university, and his generous
gift of his own historical library was the
forerunner of the still more splendid ben
efaction of President White. By frequent
visits to Ithaca, Goldwln Smith has Ttept
alive the recollection of his former con
nection with the university. He honored
the faculty by accepting the title of Emer
itus Professor in ISM, and he has always
generously encouraged the efforts made to
maintain a high standard of teaching
there!
In 1S3S, at the age of 23. Goldwln Smltn
was nominated by the government to bo
Regius Professor of Modern History at
Oxford. "Both as a professor and as a
college .tutor," says Professor Stephens,
"Goldwln Smith refused to be a mere don.
and his keen interest In practical politics
appeared in the work that he did as
a member of the Popular Education Com
mission in IS53." He had already adopted I
the unpopular sjde in advocating tne sep
aration of England's colonies from the
mother country In a series of letters to the
London Dally News, which he published
in 18C3 in a volume with the title of "Tho
Empire." But still more unpopular among
the governing classes in England, nnd
above all in Tory Oxford was the posltloh
which Professor Smith took upon tho
great question of the Civil War in Amer
ica. With voice nnd pen he advocated the
cause of the North, and he was, perhaps.
next to John Bright, the most vigorous.
consistent and thorough-going exponent
or the Northern ida on tho English plat
form and in the English press. It was
his sympathy with the North that led him
to visit the United States in IStM. when ho
oame into personal contact with President
Lincoln and the great loaders of Northern
thoucht. On his return to England he
published a series of pamnhlets. "England
and America." "The Civil War In Ameri
ca." and "Experience of th American
Commonwealth," and eventuallv In 1"6S he
resigned his professorship at Oxford nnd
nme to make his home on the American
side of th Atlantic Ocean.
Thoujrh but 43 when he abandoned Ox
ford and F.npland. Goldwln Smith had at
readv mnde a preat rpmttntion: his work
at Oxford, for it was known that he was
tb ntimulaMrir force in the Oxford Cora
mlsslrnf had left its mark on the univer
sity; his lectures on history had revealed
the nersonalU-r cf an inpnlrim? teacher:
his political attitude, especially on colonial
and American affairs, had shown him to
be an independent thinker: his literary
gifts had been madr manifest in his vari
ous writings: nrd the charm of his con
versation and the var:y of his knowledge
were such that when "Lothalr" was pub
lished. In 1S70. every one assumed that the
somewhat spiteful portrait of the "young
don" in that celebrated novel was Intended
by Benjamin Disraeli for Goldwln Smith.
He was aVeady then a most d'stlngulshed
man when he jolaed the faculty of Cornell
University as Professor of English His
tory upon Its opening In 13SS. A wider con
trast between two educational Institutions
cannot bo imagined than between the an
cient University, of Oxford and the new
foundation of Ezra Cornell. But Goldwln
Smith rejoiced more in things new than
In things old. and he gave his earnest help
to the experiment which Andrew D. White-,
his intimate friend, was attempting at Ith
aca. Not only did the ex-professor at Ox
ford give his Fervices.and his advice to the
new institution, but he presented it like
wise with his own library of books on
English history. That his name Is honored
by Cornell men goes without saying, for
the countenance of such a man in the
early days of the new university was felt
3 a special ncouragpment. and it estab
lished An abiding bond between Oxford
and Cornell. In 1S72 Professor Goldwln
Smith removed to Toronto but he main
tained his connection with Cornell as a
nonresident lecturer, and for many years
has continued to visit the unlveristy nnd
to enrich its library- His well-known
views as to the eventual union of the
Dominion of Canada with the United
tates have not made him popular among
his fellow citizens: But It Is characteristic
of his courageous Independence of mind.
Of his habit of being in opposition to tha
majority, and -of his disdain for sentimen
tality, that he has continued to advocate
his views with voice and pen where they
are least appreciated.
The years of hlfe residence In Canada
have been fruitful in literary production.
Poetry, philosophy, criticism, literary bi
ography and history have all been en
riched by his proline talent, but he has
never ceased his active Interest In politics,
and he has followed the great political
movements of the day In Englnnd, Canada
and the United States with keen but some
what acrid interest. Just as he was no
"mere don" at Oxford, so he has been no
mere man of letters nt Toronto. All his
books-abound in the reflections of one who
has studied men and manners in many
countries, and his historical works in
particular are not only the writings of a
historian, but of one who Is a man of
affairs and a matt of letters as well. It is
the publication of the latest of his his
torical works that has suggested this arti
cle, and it is now time to turn to a con
sideration of Mr. Goldwln Smith's other
historical works. In order to show how
from a study of them, as well as from a
knowledge of his career and his person
alty, his "United Kingdom: A Political
History," may best be understood and Its
value estimated.
It has already been stated that the ap
pointment of Goldwln Smith to the profes
sorship of modern history at Oxford at
the" age of 23 found him chiefly known
from the conspicuous part he had taken as
a university reformer. During his under
graduate days he had won deserved repu
tation as a classical scholar, but had done
nothing to Indicate special aptitude for
historical work. The traln'ng which Js
now demanded of a historical teacher war?
unknown in England 40 years ago. and it
was not considered a scandal then, as It
would be nowadays, to appoint as tho rep
resentative of historical Instruction in a
great university a young man whose chief
quarflcations were a thorough knowledge
of the classics and the zeal of an educa
tional reformer. During the 10 years of
his tenure of the chair of hiftory. Gold
win Smith was much more Ihterestcd in
politics than In history, and his books,
pamphlets and newspaper articles dealt
rather with burning questions of the
present than wth the history pf the past.
His only publications of a historical na
ture were his "Lectures on Modern His
tory," published in JStt,. .and his "Three
J English Statesmen: Pym, Cromwell, and
Pitt." published In 1S57. The latter cf
these volumes was, a characteristic utter
ance of the author's ideaa on history. To
a student, trained as he had been In th.
classics, the ideas of the scientific school
of history, with ns earnest striving after
truth ror its own sain;, were lneoaip. exten
sible. To hini tne study oi h.wr muui
tue atuuy c past pOUucs, atm In conslu
er.nf past pontics he nad &lw&j nuj
thoughts nxcu on tnelr uppucauon to moo
ern conditions. It is wottay or note mat
upjii tne title page of his latest worK
Goldwln Smith tiws a sentence ixom me
great .tlngii3h- Etatcuinan wnoso carter
ioirned one of tne topics, of, his first origi
nal contribution to history. 'The best
rorm of government," sa.d John Pym, as
cited by Golawin Smith, ".s that which
doth actuate anu inspire -every part and
member of a state to the common good."
It Is to the development of the state and
to th political modifications wrought in
states uunr.g the course of their history
that Mr Goldwln Smith, as a prolound
student of Aristotle, devotes his cnlef at
tention In his historical writings;, ana
throughout them all he fixes the interest
of his readersupon the explanation, given
by history, of existing political condlilona.
He belongs :n this respect to a school ot
historical writers of which he is the la&t
survivor, a school which endeavored to
explain the present by a knowledge of the
past,-a school which considered political
in preference to social or economic prob
lemu a school which did not consider the
d.scovery of the truth as the one ana only
aim of the historian. It was a schoo.,
further, which regarded literary style as
of greater importance than the historians
of the modern scientific type aro in the
habit of doing, and which rejoiced to dis
play the personality of the writer. These
qualit.es in Goldwln Smith's earlier his
torical works were once more displayed
when he again devoted himself to writing
history in these latter days. For manj
years after his settlement in America hid
writings mainly dealt with current politics.
He wrote upon the relations of England
to Ireland, the relations of Canada to tha
mother country and to the United States,
upon socialistic fallacies, and upon other
political and social subjects, with occa
sional diversions toward literary biography
and criticism, as in his volumes on Cowper
in the English Men of Letters Series and
on Jane Austen in the Great Writers Se
ries. -
Five and twenty years after his resigna
tion of Ma chair at Oxford and his set
tlement in America, Professor Goldwln
Smith made his reappearance as a histor
ian, and in 1S93 he published his volume on
"The United States: An Outline of Po
litical History (1492-1S71)." This volume did
not pretend to be a history in the ac
cepted modern signification of the term;
it contained no accurate working up of
primary historical material; it made no
effort at careful perspective or correct
proportion; it did not aim at presenting
novel views or exploiting new documents:
it contained mistakes of fact and Inac
curacies of detail, and it was frankly
Intended to express the? author's own Indi
vidual political views. "If this book
comes into the hands of an American,"
says the author in his preface; "his lib
erality will make allowance for the posi
tion of an Engllshmar who regards the
American Commonwealth as the great
achievement of his race, and looks for
ward to fc the- voluntary reunion of the
American branches of the race within t3
pale, yet desires to do justice to the moth
er country, and to render to her the meed
of gratitude which will always be her
due." Goldwln Smith's book was Im
mediately upon Its publication recognized
3 being not indeed a Valuable contribu
tion to American history, but one of the
most stimulating books ever written upon
the United States. However much critics
and general readers might differ as to the
correctness of the author's views, ,no one
could fall to be Impressed by the original
ity of thought, the picturesqueness of
style, and the sincerity of purpose, which
shone through Its pages. Eager expecta
tion was therefore aroused when It was
announced that Mr. Smith had promised
to follow up his political history of the
United States with a political history of
the United Kingdom. It was universally
felt that a contribution cf surpassing in
terest would be made, not to the knowl
edge, but to the understanding of Eng
l'sh history: it was a foregone matter that
tho literary style of a great master would
bo revealed once more upon the theme of
his maturest reflections; it was every
where recognized that the- celebrated polit
ical controversialist of the present would
be at home in treating tho political con
troversies of the past. And lastly the au
thor's long residence In Canada must have
given him a singular equipment for a
broad point of view. The title of his book
showed that he was Impressed with the
fact that English history need not mean
South British history: and'the expansion
of the Englsh-speaklng race was likely
to obtain In a book written In America its
proper recognition. He could deal moro
sympathetically with English history than
a citizen of the United States could pos
sibly do. while he find an advantage over
the home-staying Englishman from h's
long residence in a colony, for, as Mr.
Kipling says:
What can he Know or England, who only Eng
land knows?
Most entirely have all thcs expecta
tions been fulfilled. Mr. Smith's "United
Kingdom" must tako rank a3 his master
piece of literature. The task he set him
self was far more dlfflcult than the one
which ho attempted in his "United
States"; the period covered is net only
longer in point of years, but more com
plicated in its diversity; and the problem
of what to omit must havo been propor
tionately hard. The only book which can
po33ibly bo compared to Goldwln Smith's
admirable production is Green's "Short
History Of the English People." That re
markable book appealed, like Mr. Smith's
volumes, to the general reader. In many
respects the two books deserve to stand
side by side. Both are written with a
master's grasp of the English language;
both reveal the traits of genius In pre
senting Intelligible pictures in a few well
chosen worfis, with an avoidance of de
tail; both are intended to stimulate
thought rather than to, prepare the way
for further investigation, and both are
written 'for the general reader, and not
for the scholar or the specialist. But the
points of contrast between these two
great books are as marked as their points
of resemblance. Mr. Green deals, as his
title Indicates, with the history of the
English people, and Mr. Smith with the
history of tho English state. Mr. Green'3
most fascinating and fanciful pages are
devoted to Angto-Saxon history, and his
work falls off both in knowledge and In
vigor when he passes the cr!s:s of the
great Civil War in the 17th century, while
Mr. Smith get3 rid of the story of Eng
land before tho Ncrman conquest in 15
paeea, and is at his best In his last 250
pages, dealing vith the history of the
United Kingdom from 1760, and ending
with a summary of the new political con
ditions involved in the expansion of Eng
land's empire. Both books bear on their
title rsges the difference of their aim;
they are essentially supplementary to each
other: and the! reader of Green should
add to his library the volumes of Goldwln
Smith.
It has been said that Go'dwin Smith's
new book appeals to the general reader.
For educational purposes It must ba re
garded as rather stimulating than satis
fying. It contains neither footnotes nor
references to authorities; It makes no ef
fort to discuss unsolved and difficult prob
lems: It supplies none cf the bibliograph
ical information rightly demanded by the
historical student: it avoids topics de
manding technical knowledge, and it Is
free from the minute dscusslons of detail
which scare the general reader as much
as they delight the scholar. In its style.no
less than in its method ot treatment, Mr.
Smith in his latest book appeals to the
general reader. He Is cne of the last
of the great masters of English"prose style
who were nurtured on the Greek and
Latin classics. In directness of state
ment and epigrammatic brilliancy of style
he has surpassed even himself In his lat
est book. There Is not a dull page
throughout his volumes, and the old age,
to which he so pathetically alludes In hla
preface, shows no traces In his vigorous
sentences. It Is but too certain that none
of the great living English historians can
be compared with him as a wri.er of the
English language, and the grat exce.
Ienc2 of his work lies In the fact that ho
has transmuted the results of their la
bors and their discoveries Into a form
that can be appreciated and enjoyed b7
every educated reader. But Mr. Smila
is no mere compiler of secondary hito.y.
no mere reporter of the Ideas of other
men. Of him, as perhaps, of ho the.
English writer of the present lime, is
the saying of the famous F.ench critic:
"Le sty:e est l'homme ' most absolutely
true. The personality of Goldwln Smith.
that personality which It has been in part
the aim or this article t3 explain through
a summary of his personal and literary
career, snines through on every page, and
the independent thinker and great writer
embodies the results of other men's, re
searches In such fashion as to make them
characteristically his own. It may be
added that it is an especial pleasure for
a successor to Goldwln Smith In the .pro
fessional chair of English history at Cor
nell to be able to bear testimony to the
undiminished vitality of his predecessor's
genius, and this article may fitly "conclude
with the expression of the hope that still
greater length of years may be vouch
safed to the distinguished writer in, full
bodily and mental vigor, since for Gold
win Smith, to use the words of the old
Oxford "oldding prayer." which he mutt
well remember, all Cornell men, whether
among taculty, alumni or students, "are
duly bound to pray."
BOOK XOTES.
A Story of Old Oregon Soon to Be
Published.
A- C. McCIurg & Co., Chicago, have In
press and will shortly publish a book en
titled, "McLoughlin and Old Oregon," by
,Eva Emery Dye. There Is no more inter
esting chapter in the history of tha devel
opment of the country than that'which
tells of the growth of the vast territory
of which Oregon formed but a part, from
lt9 occuaation by a handful of British
trappers to Its inclusion as a part of the
United States. The part played In this
process by McLoushlm, of the Hudson's
Bay Company, and the heroic early set
tlers from the States is here set forth in
a most plctyresque and enjoyable narra
tive. "Notes on the Bacon-Shakespeare Ques
tion," by the Hon. Charles Allen, soon to
be published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co..
Is a digest of the evidence, direct and in
direct, bearing on tho authorship of tha
plays and poems attributed to Shakes
peare, from every available Shakespear
ean student, commentator and editor, and
a minute study of the legal terms used by
Shakespeare and by contemporary writers.
It is shown by tho study of the terms that
so learaed a jurist as Bacon could not
have written Into plays and poems such
poor legal knowledge as Shakespeare dis
plays. As Judge Allen sums up. Shakes
peare was a great dramatist, but an or
dinary, not to say very poor, lawyer, whll
Bacon, jrreat In the law. was. as shown
I by his own works, a great Jurlsfl but no
poet. The book is a formidable massing
of evidence for Shakespeare, written with
the Impartiality c a judicial review, and
In a sensible, quiet style, which will hava
much weight with all stucents of the ques
tion. "Man and His Divine father," by John
C. C. Clarke, D. D.. Is In press, and wll
shortly be published by A. C. McClurg &
Co., Chicago. The work Is based on phil
osophical principles. Dr. Clarke presents
man and God as we know them by psy
chology and revelation, and consider their
relation to each other as shown by thu
Bible. The work Is scho'arly, corssrva
tlve and instructive. This Is the latest
treatment of systematic divinity from thf
point of view of the con?ervntive thso
loglan: and the author, in reaching hN
conclusion?, takes Into account the most
recent results of scientific Inoulry. Dr
Clarke's chapters on "Phllo of Alexan
dria" and "The Church in Syria," will bo
found by scholars exceptionally Interesting
and valuable, as shedding light essential t
the study of New Testament thought and
time.
THE MAGAZINES.
Modern AVar Correspondence De
scribed In tltc April Scrihaer.
One of the curious things about the
methods of mo fern war correspondence
will be well shown in the Apr.l Scrib
ner's. where H. J. Whlghara's article on
the battle of Magersfont.m will appear
richly i:iustratd with photographs which
wore developed, printed and engraved
thousands of miles from the battlefield.
Mr. Whlgham will know nothing of hU
results until at some future day he picks
up a copy of the magazine. He simply
knows that ha snapped a camera in tho
direction of the fighting and enclosed the
films In a tin box.
The March number of Harper's Maga
zine is rich in timely and Interesting-features.
Prominent among these Is the Illus
trated article on "Pretoria Before tho
War' by Howard C. Hillegas. author of
"Oom Pauls People." In which the writer
give a comprehensive eketch of the llfo
In the South African capital at the time
of his visit, shortly before the breaking
out of hostilities. Captain Mahan contrib
utes the first cf a series of articles on
"The Problem of Aela.'-i in which he dis
cusses the future of the European powers
as factors in Asiatic problems, and the
third Installment of Mrs. Ward's new nov
el also appears. There are short stories
by Stephen Crane. Virginia Frazer Boyle,
Charles Egbert Craddo?k. Ellen Douglas
Deland, and special articles by Juiian
Ralph. Archibald R. Coiquhoun, Poultney
Bigelow and Tappan Adney.
The Forum for March contains Its usual
array of timely and Interesting articles.
No dull contribution graces its pages.
Among the 12 papers o be f jund In thi3
number are "Government Deposits in
Banks." by George E. Roberts. Director
of tho United States Mint, Henry O.
Dwight dlscusse? "Cur Mohammedan
Wards"; George F. Becker, United Sta.cs
Gto.oglst, portrays '"Klsh.-j and Wrongs
In South Africa"; F. Cunllffe Owen writc3
entertainingly of "Englishmen in tha
United States"; WHIIim Ordway Part
ridge, the celebrated Eculptor-author, con
tributes an article on ' 1 he True Relation
of Sculpture to Architecture"; Ho Yow,
Chinese Consul -General to the United
States, gives his vi-ws concerning "West
ern Benefits Through Cnina's Develop
ment"; and Professor W. P. Trent fur
nishes a review of "Mr. S.ephen Phillips'
Play."
The March issue of The International
Monthly (The Macmil.au Company) con
tains an article by W. W. Ireland on "De
generation; A Study In Anth. apology";
Piofessor Patrick Getldcs writes on "John
Ruskin. as Econorr.is? ; Professor W. P.
Trent writes on "Some Recent Balzac
Literature." There, is also an articio
on "Henry Irving" by Clement Scott, and
one on the "Southern Question," 'by E. P.
Clark.
The April number of McCains -Magazino
comes to hand with three very handcomo
colored plates the very first prg: being
a beautiful illustration of 211 exquteito
outdoor costume. It also contains a very
fine array of Illustrations oi patterns of
artistic fashion deJgns for ladifrs. missss'
and children's and infants' wear. Quite
appropriately the first article in this Issue
is devoted to Spring millinery.
Remembered Ln Fayette.
Now York Tribune.
Rev. Dr. Daniel Hauer, cf Hanover, Pa.,
who has just celebrated his 94th birthday,
is said to be the oldert Lutheran clergy
man In the United Statts. He once met
General La Fayette, and has a vivid recol
lection of the exc!t.ng events of the sec
ond war with England. From his home
he saw the light and smcke from theburn
,lng of the public buddings at Washington
In 1S14, and witnessed the troops parsing
through h's native town rente ning to the
defease ot Baltimore, when attacked by an
invading foreign foe.